Dave Matthews Band & Jimmy Cliff

Dave Matthews Band, Jimmy Cliff
Arco Arena, Sacramento
Tuesday, July 13

Heading to Sacramento on Highway 99 that sweaty, balmy evening, I witnessed an incredible sunset. The sun lay low in the pink haze while shooting out heavenly rays. As I turned left at the intersection going to Arco, the sun had transformed into a huge red ball, sitting on the horizon like a Japanese flag. It was this sunset which set the mood for a summer solstice, almost like a midsummer night’s dream in the Sacramento valley.

And ironically, things didn’t start heating up until after the sun had gone to rest.

Dave Matthews Band’s last appearance in Sacramento was at the end of October, plenty of time for the Nor. Cal fans to await their return. Sure enough, DMB played to a pot-smoked, packed arena filled with hundreds of die-hards and faithful radio-song lovers. The warm air seemed to make everything go in slow motion, especially the music. DMB’s performance reminded me of a New Orleans jazz club with it’s sweaty closeness and groovy, smoking riffs.

The band opened with "Seek Up," as well as some of their signature jams, but the most incredible part of the concert was when they played "Say Goodbye," a favorite which is not performed very often by the band. (You know, the one about being lovers for a night and then go back to being friends.) Dave seemed to be in a more romantic mood than usual, which could be from his recent nuptials. After the crowd swooned over "Say Goodbye," DMB broke out into a newer love song, "Crush."

"And then all of a sudden they got all stony on us," as my friend Shanna put it.

DMB played a long, drawn-out version of "Recently," as the lighters started to ignite all over the arena. Perhaps it was the best song of the evening.

"Some people like to smoke a FAT bowl in Sacramento…" said Dave.

Although the band performed a few new songs including "The Stone,"and other not-so-recognizable tunes in the middle, it was obvious that this concert had a certain vibe to it. So DMB decided to go with the flow of their fans, and start cranking out the hits. They performed "Crash," "Tripping Billies," "So Much to Say," and "Too Much," all in one jamming set. And the crowd went wild. At one point, you could hardly hear the band over the singing, screaming fans. Ron, a die-hard fan from Folsom, was going nuts in the aisle next to me with his shirt off and swinging a glo-stick while shouting "Whooooo-hooo!" the entire show.

Just when I thought it couldn’t get any hotter or any better, DMB threw in a riff from Led Zeppelin’s "Cringe," right at the end of his own "Too Much."

Then DMB left stage to take a break from the heat. After waiting five agonizing minutes, DMB returned with a remake of the old song, "Angel from Montgomery," which was sung by acoustic violinist Boyd Tinsley, who was really the star of the entire evening. The summer evening finally came to a close with "Two Step."
"Thank you very, very, much. We’ll remember this one," said Dave at the end of the show.

Sacramento will remember that summer evening as well. Come back to the valley soon, guys. We’ve missed you.

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